J. C. Ryle on Matthew 13

The chapter which these verses begin is remarkable for the number of parables which it contains. Seven striking illustrations of spiritual truth are here drawn by the great head of the church from the book of nature. By so doing he shows us that religious teaching may draw help from everything in creation. Those that would “find out acceptable words” should not forget this.(Eccl 12:10)

The parable of the sower, which begins this chapter, is one of those parables which admit of a very wide application. It is being continually verified under our own eyes. Wherever the Word of God is preached or expounded and people are assembled to hear it, the sayings of our Lord in this parable are found to be true. It describes what goes on, as a general rule, in all congregations.

Let us learn in the first place, from this parable that the work of the preacher resembles that of the sower.

Like the sower, the preacher must sow good seed if he wants to see fruit. He must sow the pure Word of God, and not the traditions of the church or the doctrines of men. Without this, his labor will be vain. He may go to and fro, and seem to say much, and to work much in his weekly round of ministerial duty, but there will be no harvest of souls for heaven, no living results, and no conversions.

Like the sower, the preacher must be diligent. He must spare no pains; he must use every possible means to make his work prosper; he must patiently sow beside all waters, and sow in hope. He must “instant in season and out of season,” he must not be deterred by difficulties and discouragements; “he that observeth the wind shall not sow.” No doubt his success does not entirely depend upon his labor and diligence, but without labor and diligence success will not be obtained.(Isa 32:20 2 Tim 4:2 Eccl 11:4)

Like the sower, the preacher cannot give life. He can scatter the seed committed to his charge, but he cannot command it to grow: he may offer the word of truth to a people, but he cannot make them receive it and bear fruit. To give life is God’s solemn prerogative: “It is the Spirit that quickenth.” God alone can “give the increase.” (John 6:63  1 Corinthians 3:7 ).

Let these things sink down into our hearts. It is no light thing to be a real minister of God’s Word. To be an idle, formal workman in the church is an easy business; to be a faithful sower is very hard. Preachers ought to be specially remembered in our prayers.

In the nest place let us learn from this passage that there are various ways of hearing the Word of God without benefit.

We may listen to a sermon with a heart like the hard wayside, careless, thoughtless, and unconcerned. Christ crucified may be affectionately set before us, and we may hear of his sufferings with utter indifference, as a subject in which we have no interest. Fast as the words fall on our ears, the devil may pluck them away, and we may go home as if we had not heard a sermon at all. Alas, there are many such hearers! It is as true of them as of the idols of old, “eyes, have they but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not ” ( Psalm 135:16–17 ). Truth seems to have no more effect on their hearts than water on a stone.

We may listen to a sermon with pleasure, while the impression produced on us is only temporary and short-lived. Our hearts, like the “stony ground, may yield a plentiful crop of warm feelings and good resolutions; but all this time there may be no deeply-rooted work in our souls, and the first cold blast of opposition or temptation may cause our seeming religion to wither away. Alas, there are many such hearers! The mere love of sermons is no sign of grace. Thousands of baptized people are like the Jews of Ezekiel’s day: “Thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words but they do them not.” ( Ezekiel 33:32 ).

We may listen to a sermon and approve of every word it contains, and yet get no good from it in consequence of the absorbing influence of this world. Our hearts, like the thorny ground, may be choked with a rank crop of cares, pleasures and worldly plans. We may really like the Gospel, and wish to obey it, and yet insensibly give it no chance of bearing fruit, by allowing other things to fill a place in our affections, until they occupy our whole hearts. Alas, there are many such hearers! They know the truth well: they hope one day to be decided Christians; but they never come to the point of giving up all for Christ’s sake. They never make up their minds to “seek first the kingdom of God”—and so die in their sins.

These are points that we ought to weigh well. We should never forget that there are more ways than one of hearing the Word without profit. It is not enough that we come to hear: we may come and be careless. It is not enough that we are not careless hearers: our impressions may be only temporary and ready to perish. It is not enough that our impressions are not merely temporary; but they may be continually yielding no result, in consequence of our obstinate cleaving to the world. Truly “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” (

In the last place, let us learn from this parable that there is only one evidence of hearing the Word rightly. That evidence is to bear “fruit.”

The fruit here spoken of is the fruit of the Spirit. Repentance towards God, faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ, holiness of life and character, prayerfulness, humility, charity, spiritual mindedness—these are the only satisfactory proofs that the seed of God’s Word is doing its proper work in our souls. Without such proofs our religion is vain, however high our profession: it is no better than sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Christ has said, “I have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit.” ( John 15:16 ).

There is no part of the whole parable more important than this. We must never be content with a barren orthodoxy, and a coldly maintenance of correct theological views; we must not be satisfied with clear knowledge, warm feelings, and a decent profession; we must see to it that the Gospel we profess to love produces positive “fruit” in our hearts and lives. This is real Christianity. These words of St. James should often ring in our ears: “Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” ( James 1:22 ).

Let us not leave these verses without putting to ourselves the important question, “How do we hear?” We live in a Christian country; we probably go to a place of worship Sunday after Sunday, and hear sermons. In what spirit do we hear them? What effect have they upon our characters? Can we point to anything that deserves the name of “fruit”?

We may rest assured that to reach heaven at last it needs something more than to go to church regularly on Sundays and listen to preachers. The Word of God must be received into our hearts, and become the mainspring of our conduct: it must produce practical impressions on our inward man, that shall appear in our outward behaviour. If it does not do this, it will only add to our condemnation on the day of judgment.

The parable of the wheat and tares, which occupies the chief part of these verses, is one of peculiar importance in the present day. It is eminently calculated to correct the extravagant expectations in which many Christians indulge as to the effect of missions abroad, and of preaching the Gospel at home. May we give it the attention which it deserves!

In the first place, this parable teaches us that good and evil will always be found together in the professing church, until the end of the world.

The visible church is set before us as a mixed body: it is a vast “field” in which “wheat” and “tares” grow side by side. We must expect to find believers and unbelievers, converted and unconverted, “the children of the kingdom” and “the children of the wicked one”all mingled together in every congregation of baptized people.

The purest preaching of the Gospel will not prevent this. In every age of the church the same state of things has existed: it was the experience of the early Fathers; it was the experience of the Reformers; it is the experience of the best ministers at the present hour. There has never been a visible church or a religious assembly of which the members have all been “wheat.” The devil, that great enemy of souls, has always taken care to sow “tares.”

The most strict and prudent discipline will not prevent this: Episcopalians, Presbyterians and Independents all alike find it to be so. Do what we will to purify a church, we shall never succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion: tares will be found among the wheat; hypocrites and deceivers will creep in; and worst of all, if we are extreme in our efforts to obtain purity we do more harm than good: we run the risk of encouraging many a Judas Iscariot, and breaking many a bruised reed. In our zeal to gather up the tares, we are in danger of rooting up the wheat with them. Such zeal is not according to knowledge and has often done much harm. Those who care not what happens to the wheat provided they can root up the tares show little of the mind of Christ: and after all, there is deep truth in the charitable saying of Augustine, “Those who are tares today may be wheat tomorrow.”

Are we inclined to look for the conversion of the whole world by the labors of missionaries and ministers? Let us place this parable before us, and beware of such an idea. We shall never see all the inhabitants of earth, “the wheat” of God, in the present order of things: the tares and wheat will “grow together until the harvest.”The kingdoms of this world will never become the kingdom of Christ, and the millennium will never begin until the King himself returns.

Are we ever tried by the scoffing argument of the infidel, that Christianity cannot be a true religion because there are so many false Christians? Let us call to mind this parable, and remain unmoved. Let us tell the infidel that the state of things he scoffs at does not surprise us at all. Our Master prepared us for it 1800 years ago. He foresaw and foretold that his church would be a field containing not only “wheat” but “tares.”

Are we ever tempted to leave the Protestant church for another, because we see many of its members unconverted? Let us remember this parable, and take heed what we do. We shall never find a perfect church. We may spend our lives in migrating from communion to communion, and pass our days in perpetual disappointment: go where we will, and worship where we may, we shall always find “tares.”

In the second place, the parable teaches us that there is to be a day of separation between the godly and the ungodly members of the visible church, at the end of the world.

The present mixed state of things is not to be forever: the wheat and the tares are to be divided at last. The Lord Jesus shall “send forth his angels” in the day of his second advent, and gather all professing Christians into two great companies. Those mighty reapers shall make no mistake: they shall discern with unerring judgment between the righteous and the wicked, and place every one in his own lot. The saints and faithful servants of Christ shall receive glory, honor and eternal life; the worldly, the ungodly, the careless and the unconverted shall be cast“into a furnace of fire.”

There is something peculiarly solemn in this part of the parable. The meaning of it admits of no mistake: our Lord himself explains it in words of singular clearness, as if he would impress it deeply on our minds. Well may he say at the conclusion, “who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Let the ungodly man tremble when he reads this parable; let him see in its fearful language his own certain doom, unless he repents and is converted. Let him know that he is sowing misery for himself if he goes on still in his neglect of God. Let him reflect that his end will be to be gathered among the bundles of “tares,” and be burned. Surely such a prospect ought to make a man think! As Baxter truly says, “We must not misinterpret God’s patience with the ungodly.”

Let the believer in Christ take comfort when he reads this parable; let him see that there is happiness and safety prepared for him in the great and dreadful day of the Lord. The voice of the archangel and the trump of God will proclaim no terror for him they will summon him to join what he has long desired to see—a perfect church and a perfect communion of saints. How beautiful will the whole body of believers appear when finally separated from the wicked! How pure will the wheat look in the garner of God when the tares are at length taken away! How brightly will grace shine when no longer dimmed by incessant contact with the worldly and unconverted! The righteous are little known in the present day: the world sees no beauty in them, even as it saw none in their Master. The world knoweth us not because “it knew him not.” ( 1 John 3:1 ). But the righteous shall one day “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” To use the words of Matthew Henry, “their sanctification will be perfected, and their justification will be published.” “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”(Col.3:4)

The parables of the “treasure hidden in a field” and the “merchant man seeking goodly pearls,” appear intended to convey one the same lesson. They vary, no doubt, in one striking particular: the “treasure” was found of one who does not seem to have sought it; the “pearl” was found of one who was actually seeking pearls. But the conduct of the finders, in both cases, was precisely alike: both “sold all” to make the thing found their own property; and it is exactly at this point that the instruction of both parables agrees.

These two parables are meant to teach us that men who are really convinced of the importance of salvation will give up everything to win Christ and eternal life.

What was the conduct of the two men our Lord describes? The one was persuaded that there was a “treasure hid in a field,” which would amply repay him if he bought the field, however great the price that he might give. The other was persuaded that the “pearl” he had found was so immensely valuable that it would answer to him to purchase it at any cost. Both were convinced that they had found a thing of great value: both were satisfied that it was worth a great present sacrifice to make this thing their own. Others might wonder at them; others might think them foolish for paying such a sum of money for the “field” and “pearl,” but they knew what they were about. They were sure that they were making a good bargain.

We see, in this simple picture, the conduct of a true Christian explained. He is what he is, and does what he does in his religion, because he is thoroughly persuaded that it is worthwhile. He comes out from the world; he puts off the old man; he forsakes the vain companions of his past life. Like Matthew, he gives up everything, and like Paul, he counts “all things loss” for Christ’s sake. And why? Because he is convinced that Christ will make amends to him for all he gives up. He sees in Christ an endless “treasure,” he sees in Christ a precious “pearl”: to win Christ he will make any sacrifice. This is true faith. This is the stamp of a genuine work of the Holy Ghost.

We see in these two parables the real clue to the conduct of many unconverted people. They are what they are in religion because they are not fully persuaded that it is worthwhile to be different. They flinch from decision; they shrink from taking up the cross; they halt between two opinions; they will not commit themselves. They will not come forward boldly on the Lord’s side. And why? Because they are not convinced that it will answer they have not faith. They are not sure that “the treasure” is before them; they are not satisfied that “the pearl” is worth so great a price. They cannot yet make up their minds to “sell all” that they may win Christ. And so, too often, they perish everlastingly! When a man will venture nothing for Christ’s sake, we must draw the sorrowful conclusion that he has not got the grace of God.

The parable of the net let down into the sea has some points in common with that of the wheat and the tares. It is intended to instruct us on a most important subject:the true nature of the visible church of Christ.

The preaching of the Gospel was the letting down of a large net into the midst of the sea of this world; the professing church which it was to gather together was to be a mixed body. Within the folds of the net there were to be fish of every kind, both good and bad; within the pale of the church there were to be Christians of various sorts, unconverted as well as converted, false as well as true. The separation of good and bad was sure to come at last, but not before the end of the world. Such was the account which the great Master gave to his disciples of the churches which they were to found.

It is of the utmost importance to have the lessons of this parable deeply graven on our minds. There is hardly any point in Christianity on which greater mistakes exist than the nature of the visible church. There is none, perhaps, on which mistakes are so perilous to the soul.

Let us learn from this parable that all congregations of professed christians ought to be regarded as mixed bodies: they are all assemblies containing “good fish and bad,” converted and unconverted, children of God and children of the world, and ought to be described and addressed as such. To tell all baptized people that they are born again, and have the Spirit, and are members of Christ, and are wholly in the face of such a parable as this is unwarrantable. Such a mode of address may flatter and please; it is not likely to profit or save. It is painfully calculated to promote self-righteousness, and lull sinners to sleep; it overthrows the plain teaching of Christ, and is ruinous to souls. Do we ever hear such doctrine? If we do, let us remember “the net.”

Finally, let it be a settled principle with us never to be satisfied with mere outward church membership. We may be inside the net, and yet not be in Christ. The waters of baptism are poured on myriads who are never washed in the water of life; the bread and wine are eaten and drunk by thousands at the Lord’s table, who never feed on Christ by faith. Are we converted? Are we among the “good fish”? This is the grand question! It is one which must be answered at last. The net will soon be “drawn to shore”, and the true character of everyone’s religion will at length be exposed. There will be an eternal separation between the good fish and the bad: there will be a “ furnace of fire” for “the wicked.”. Surely, as Baxter says, “these plain words more need belief and consideration than exposition.”

The first thing which we ought to notice in these verses is the striking question with which our Lord winds up the seven wonderful parables of this chapter: he said, “Have you understood all these things?”

Personal application has been called the “soul” of preaching. A sermon without application is like a letter posted without a direction: it may be well written, rightly dated and duly signed; but it is useless, because it never reaches its destination. Our Lord’s inquiry is an admirable example of real heart-seaching application: “Have ye understood?”

The mere form of hearing a sermon can benefit no man, unless he comprehend what it means: he might just as well listen to the blowing of a trumpet, or the beating of a drum. He might just as well attend a Roman Catholic service in Latin. His intellect must be set in motion, and his heart impressed: ideas must be received into his mind; he must carry off the seeds the seeds of new thoughts.. Without this he hears is in vain.

It is of great important to see this point clearly; there is a vast amount of ignorance about it. There are thousands who go regularly to places of worship and think they have done their religious duty, but never carry away an idea, or receive an impression. Ask them, when they return home on a Sunday evening, what they have learned, and they cannot tell you a word. Examine them at the end of a year as to the religious knowledge they have attained, and you will find them as ignorant as the heathen.

Let us watch our souls in this matter. Let us take with us to church not only our bodies, but our minds, our reason, our hearts and our consciences. Let us often ask ourselves, “What have I got from this sermon? What have I learned? What truths have been impressed on my mind?” Intellect, no doubt, is not everything in religion; but it does not therefore follow that it is nothing at all. The heart is unquestionably the main point: but we must never forget that the Holy Ghost generally reaches the heart through the mind. Sleepy, idle, inattentive hearers are never likely to be converted.

The second thing which we ought to notice in these verses is the strange treatment which our Lord received in his own country.

He came to the town of Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and “taught in their synagogue.” His teaching, no doubt, was the same as it always was: “Never man spake like this man.” But it had no effect on the people of Nazareth. They were “astonished,” but their hearts were unmoved. They said, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?” They despised him, because they were so familiar with him. “They were offended in him.” And they drew from our Lord the solemn remark, “A prophet is not without honour save in his own country and in his own house.” Let us see in this history a melancholy page of human nature unfolded to our view. We are all apt to despise mercies if we are accustomed to them, and have them cheap. The Bibles and religious books which are so plentiful in England, the means of grace of which we have so abundant a supply, the preaching of the Gospel which we hear every week—all all are liable to be undervalued. It is mounfully true that, in religion more than anything else, “familiarity breeds contempt.” Men forget that truth is truth, however old and hackneyed it may sound—and despise it because it is old. Alas, by so doing they provoke God to take it away!

Do we wonder that the relatives, servants and neighbors of godly people are not always converted? Do we wonder that the parishioners of eminent ministers of the Gospel are often their hardest and most impenitent hearers? Let us wonder no more. Let us note the experience of our Lord at Nazareth, and learn wisdom.

Do we ever fancy that if we had only seen and heard Jesus Christ we should have been his faithful disciples? Do we think that if we had only lived near him, and been eyewitnesses of his ways, we should not have been undecided, wavering and half-hearted about religion? If we do, let us think so no longer. Let us observe the people of Nazareth, and learn wisdom.

The last thing which we ought to notice in these verses is the ruinous nature of unbelief. The chapter ends with the fearful words, “He did not

We see in this single word the secret of the everlasting ruin of multitudes of souls! They perish forever, because they will not believe. There is nothing beside in earth or heaven that prevents their salvation: their sins, however many, might all be forgiven; the Father’s love is ready to receive them; the blood of Christ is ready to cleanse them; the power of the Spirit is ready to renew them. But a greater barrier interposes : they will not believe. “Ye will not come to me,” says Jesus, “that ye might have life.” ( John 5:40 ).

May we all be on our guard against this accursed sin! It is the old root-sin which caused the fall of man. Cut down in the true child of God by the power of the Spirit, it is ever ready to bud and sprout again. There are three great enemies against which God’s children should daily pray: pride, worldliness, and unbelief. Of these three none is greater than unbelief.

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We have in this passage a page out of God’s book of martyrs: the history of the death of John the Baptist. The wickedness of King Herod, the bold reproof which John gave him, the consequent imprisonment of the faithful reprover, and the disgraceful circumstances of his death are all written for our learning. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”(Ps. 116:15)

The story of John the Baptist’s death is told more fully by St. Mark than by St. Matthew. For the present it seems sufficient to draw two general lessons from St. Matthew’s narrative, and to fasten our attention exclusively upon them.

Let us learn in the first place, from these verses the great power of conscience.

King Herod hears “of the fame of Jesus,”and says to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead!” He remembered his own wicked dealings with that holy man, and his heart failed within him. His heart told him that he had despised his godly counsel, and committed a foul and abominable murder; and his heart told him that, though he had killed John, there would yet be a reckoning day. He and John the Baptist would yet meet again. Well saysBishop Hall: “A wicked man needs no other tormentor, especially for sins of blood, than his own heart.”

There is a conscience in all men by nature. Let this never be forgotten. Fallen, lost, desperately wicked as we are all born into the world, God has taken care to leave himself a witness in our bosoms. It is a poor, blind guide, without the Holy Ghost: it can save no one; it leads no one to Christ: it may be “seared” and trampled under foot. But there is such a thing as conscience in every man, accusing or excusing him; and Scripture and experience alike declare it ( Romans 2:15). Conscience can make even kings miserable when they have willfully rejected its advice; it can fill the princes of this world with fear and trembling, as it did Felix, when Paul preached. They find it easier to imprison and behead the preacher, than to bind his sermon, and silence the voice of his reproof in their own hearts. God’s witnesses may be put out of the way, but their testimony often lives and works on long after they are dead. God’s prophets live not forever, but their words often survive them ( 2 Timothy 2:9 ;  Zechariah 1:5 ).

Let the thoughtless and ungodly remember this, and not sin against their consciences. Let them “know that their sins will surely find them out.” They may laugh, and jest, and mock at religion for a little time. They may cry, “Who is afraid? Where is the mighty harm of our ways?” They may depend upon it they are sowing misery for themselves, and will reap a bitter crop sooner or later. Their wickedness will overtake them one day: they will find, like Herod, that it is an evil thing and bitter to sin against God, ” ( Jeremiah 2:19 ).

Let ministers and teachers remember that there is a conscience in men, and let them work on boldly. Instruction is not always thrown away because it seems to bear no fruit at the time it is given; teaching is not always in vain, though we fancy that it is unheeded, wasted and forgotten. There is a conscience in the hearers of sermons; there is a conscience in the children at our schools. Many a sermon and lesson will yet rise again, when he who preached or taught it is lying like John the Baptist in the grave. Thousands know that we are right, and, like Herod, dare not confess it.

Let us learn in the second place, that God’s children must not look for their reward in this world.

If ever there was a case of godliness unrewarded in this life, it was that of John the Baptist. Let us think for a moment what a remarkable man he was during his short career, and then think to what end he came. Behold him that was “the prophet of the Highest.” and greater than any born of women, imprisoned like a malrfactor! Behold him cut off by a violent death before the age of thirty-four; the “burning light” quenched, the faithful preacher murdered for doing his duty—and this to gratify the hatred of an adulterous woman, and at the command of a capricious tyrant! Truly there was an event here, if there ever was one in the world, which might make an ignorant person say, “What profit is it to serve God?”

But these are the sort of things which show us that there will one day be a judgment. The God of the spirits of all flesh shall at last set up an assize and reward every one according to his works. The blood of John the Baptist and James the Apostle and Stephen, the blood of Polycarp, and Hus, and Ridley and Latimer, shall yet be required. It is all written in God’s book. “The earth also shall disclose her blood; and shall not more cover her slain no longer.” ( Isaiah 26:21 ). The world shall yet know that there is a God that judges the earth. “If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of judgement and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter, for he that is higher than the highest regardeth: and there be higher than they.” ( Ecclesiastes 5:8 ).

Let all true Christians remember that their best things are yet to come. Let us count it no strange thing if we have sufferings in this present time. It is a season of probation: we are yet at school. We are learning patience, longsuffering, gentleness and meekness, which we could hardly learn if we had our good things now. But there is an eternal holiday yet to begin; for this let us wait quietly: it will make amends for all. “Our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” ( 2 Corinthians ).

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These verses contain one of our Lord Jesus Christ’s greatest miracles: the feeding of “five thousand men, besides women and children” with five loaves and two fishes. Of all the miracles worked by our Lord, not one is so often mentioned in the New Testament as this. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all dwell upon it. It is plain that this event in Lord’s history is intended to receive special attention. Let us give it that attention, and see what we may learn.

In the first place, this miracle is an unanswerable proof of our Lord’s divine power.

To satisfy the hunger of more than five thousand people with so small a portion of food as five loaves and two fishes would manifestly impossible without a supernatural multiplication of the food. It was a thing that no magician, impostor or false prophet would ever have attempted. Such a person might possibly pretend to cure a single sick person, or to raise a single dead body, and by jugglery and trickery might persuade weak people that he succeeded; but such a person would never attempt such a mighty work as that which is here recorded. He would know well that he could not persuade 10,000 men, women and children that they were full when they were hungry. He would be exposed as a cheat and impostor on the spot.

Yet this is the mighty work which our Lord actually performed, and by performing it gave a conclusive proof that he was God. He called that into being which did not before exist: he provided visible, tangible, material food for more than 5,000 people, out of a supply which in itself would not have satisfied fifty. Surely we must be blind if we do not see in this the hand of him who “giveth food to all flesh” ( Psalm 136:25 ), and made the world and all that therein is. To create is the peculiar prerogative of God.

We ought to lay firm hold on such passages as this. We should treasure up in our minds every evidence of our Lord’s divine power. The cold, orthodox, unconverted man may see little in the story: the true believer should store it in his memory. Let him think of the world, the devil and his own heart, and learn to thank God that his Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, is almighty.

In the second place, this miracle is a striking example of our Lord’s compassion towards men.

Jesus “saw a great multitude” in a desert place, ready to faint for hunger. He knew that many in that multitude had no true faith and love towards himself: they followed him fashions sake, or from curiosity or some equally low motive ( John ). But our Lord had pity upon all: all were relieved; all partook of the food miraculously provided. All were filled and none went away hungry.

Let us see in this the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ toward sinners. He is ever the same. He is now as he was of old, “the , the Lord god , merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” ( Exodus 34:6 ). He does not deal with men according to their sins, or reward them according to their iniquities. He loads even his enemies with benefits. None will be so excuseless as those who are found impenitent at last: “The Lord’s goodness leads them to repentance.” ( Romans 2:4 ). In all his dealings with people on earth, he showed himself one that delighteth in mercy ( Micah 7:18). Let us strive to be like him. “We ought,” says an old writer, “to have abundance of pity and compassion on diseased souls.”

In the last place, this miracle is a lively emblem of the sufficiency of the Gospel to meet the soul-wants of all mankind.

There can be little doubt that all our Lord’s miracles have a deep figurative meaning, and teach great spiritual truths. They must be handled reverently and discreetly. Care must be taken that we do not, like many of the Fathers, see allegories where the Holy Spirit meant none to be seen. But, perhaps, if there is any miracle worked by Christ which has a clear figurative meaning, in addition to the plain lessons which may be drawn from its surface, it is that which is now before us.

What does this hungry multitude in a desert place represent to us? It is an emblem of all mankind. The children of men are a large assembly of perishing sinners, famishing in the midst of a wilderness world—helpless, hopeless, and on the way to ruin. We have all gone astray like lost sheep ( Isaiah 53:6 ); we are by nature far away from God. Our eyes may not be opened to the full extent of our danger: but in reality we are “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked.” ( Revelation 3:17 ). There is but a step between us and everlasting death.

What do these loaves and fishes represent, apparently so inadequate to meet the necessities of the case, but by miracle made sufficient to feed 10,000 people? They are a emblem of the doctrine of Christ crucified for sinners, as their vicarious substitute, and making atonement by his death for the sin of the world. That doctrine seems to the natural man weakness itself. Christ crucified was “ to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. ” ( 1 Corinthians 1:23 ). And yet Christ crucified has proved “the bread of God which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world” ( John ). The story of the cross has amply met the spiritual wants of mankind wherever it has been preached. Thousands of every rank, age and nation are witnesses that it is “the wisdom of God and the power of God.”. They have eaten of it and been “filled,” “they have found it meat indeed and drink indeed.”

Let us ponder these things well. There are great depths in all our Lord Jesus Christ’s recorded dealings upon earth, which no one has ever fully fathomed. There are mines of rich instruction in all his words and ways, which no one has thoroughly explored. Many a passage of the Gospels is like the cloud which Elijah’s servant saw ( 1 Kings 18:44 ). The more we look at it, the greater it will appear. There is an inexhaustible fullness in Scripture. Other writings seem comparatively poor and threadbare when we become familiar with them; but the more we read the Bible the richer we shall find it.